Hungarian PM to amend constitution to oust president

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on Monday that his government will initiate constitutional changes to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office after the president refused to resign. The confrontation follows a May 31 deadline set by Magyar for Sulyok and other senior officials appointed under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to step down voluntarily.

Magyar made the announcement after a morning meeting with Sulyok at the Sándor Palace, the presidential residence, which was also attended by Justice Minister Márta Görög. The prime minister confirmed that Sulyok declined to resign during the discussion. Magyar stated that he would now instruct lawmakers from his governing Tisza Party to immediately begin the necessary legal and political procedures to remove the president, a process he estimated would take about a month.

The conflict stems from the landslide election victory of Magyar’s Tisza Party on April 12, which ended Orbán’s 16-year rule. Magyar’s party secured a two-thirds supermajority in parliament, granting it the power to amend the constitution. The new government has pledged to dismantle what it describes as the autocratic political system and...